A 60-year-old German tourist has died in Egypt, becoming its first fatality from the new coronavirus, the health ministry in Cairo announced on Sunday.
The man was taken to hospital with fever after arriving in Hurghada from Luxor on March 6, and was placed in intensive care but refused to be transferred to a designated isolation hospital, the ministry said.
Officials said on Saturday the coronavirus had been detected in 45 people, including foreign tourists, after a cruise ship on the Nile River reached Luxor. Until then, Egypt had reported only three confirmed cases of the virus.
The cruise boat struck by the virus has been towed outside Luxor and placed under quarantine, state media reported. Those who tested positive were flown by military plane for quarantine in northern Egypt.
Officials say the newly announced cases and others discovered in people who passed through Egypt originate from a Taiwanese-US national who returned to Taiwan in February after travelling on the cruise ship.
Iraq confirmed two further deaths due to the coronavirus, taking the total number to six, the state news agency reported on Sunday.
The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases climbed to 54 so far, according to health officials.
